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Season of the Witch
ACT I: The Singing Stone ''Prologue: #See Witchgate Wars #The Sun Stones that make up the Light Wall that surrounds the fortress of Malthengard are starting to fail leaving a gap in the wall potentially allowing whatever Zahan captured inside an escape. #One of the stones was taken by the witch, Adria , to fuel her huge constructs. #Harvyn: A small patrol of Green Wardens comes across a pack of Goblins that are hauling a large stone behind them in the Briarwood Forest . The Wardens attack the goblins who stand to defend the large stone rather than turn and run. #A Halfling Hunter discovers the large stone deep in the forest. When the sun's rays touch it it emits a musical note. He later describes it as a 'Singing Stone'. #The Halfling Hunter, Blackwing, shows it to his friend and future mate, Moro, who then shows it to Kyson and Talik in the summer of 880 KR. #Kyson discovers dwarvish inscriptions carved into the stones at the mouth of the cave. He copies the fragment of writing and attempts to translate it while at the Priory. PART 1: A Pilgrim #It is the start of the Mead Moon Celebration in the year 880 KR , during the second month of Autumn, Brindle, in the town of Thornhaven, March of Blackthorn , Barony of Briarwood . #Three friends, Kyson, Talik and Moro Frogstalker, are at a small inlet where the Thistle Run connects to the western edge of Blackthorn Lake. ##Kyson is practicing his newly constructed "Wings" spell that will allow him to glide for a brief time on magically constructed, giant wings. ##Kyson was collecting some azure bloom for one of the instructors at the Priory and picking up some tried Satyr Leaf from Moro Frogstalker for his Alchemy master and decided to take a break to try out the spell once more. ##Kyson is confident in his magic - at least in theory. He is not, however, confident in his ability to conquor his fear of heights. When Kyson continually steps back from the edge of the rocky outcropping he and Talik are standing on above the water - too afraid to jump, Talik grabs him by the belt and the scruff of his robes and tosses him into the air. ##Kyson's spell works - he is able to create a pair of giant wings attached to his back that permit him to glide out along the western shores of the lake - for a few moments. He manages to turn himself back towards shore but is too low and eventually skims to the surface and before he gets to shore bounces off the water like a stone being skipped. ##Drenched, he slogs his way out of the lake and onto shore and dries himself off with a simple cantrip. #A traveling Pilgrim , Jathom Grey , has arrived with the Silver-Maul caravan during the start of the Mead Moon in the town of Thornhaven. #Upon returning to the Priory, Kyson is stopped by the Maid, Gwenda, as he passed through the kithchen. She asks him to help her remove a stain from Master Tethys' morning coat. She had been cleaning his chamber and accidentally spilled one of the ink bottles on his desk onto the garment. She's worried that Tethys will be upset with her and she can't afford to get fired. Kyson, her friend, asks her for a kitchen rag and magically moves the stain from the morning coat to the rag. #Kyson heads to his master's laboratory to drop off the basket of Azure Bloom and he's told by one of the cleaning girls that Remmick has gone to the market to see the caravan. #Kyson heads to the market to find his master and have a look at the Caravan's wares. He doesn't have much money but there's no hurt in looking through the book dealer's scribal supplies. ## While in the market, Kyson hears about a goblin raid that have happened in the north of the Barony - near his parent's village of Blackbriar. ## He is releaved to hear that Lord Bardos has sent a detachment of guards to investigate and deal with the problem. Goblin raids are not uncommon for this early in fall but they're easily put down once the soldiers of House Alba are sent to deal with them. ## Most believe that the goblin raid is an isolated, if tragic, incident. Goblins, occasionally, will come out of the deep woods and raid small settlements or farms for food. They're usually defeated without much effort. They occur only once every five or so years. #Balkin Silver-Maul, a book dealer within the caravan, has come to know Kyson and his interest in rare books and calls his attention when he walks by. ##The young apprentice is introduced to the Pilgrim by Balkin. ##The Pilgrim tells Kyson that he has a message for the Prior, Master Tethys. So, being a dutiful apprentice, he invites him to the Priory. #A Dwarven Instructor within the priory, the Alchemist Remmick Bright-Hammer, is glad to see that Kyson has extended the hospitality of the Priory to a Pilgrim and invites him to join him in the dwarven celebration of the Mead Moon while they wait for Tethys to return from the Keep. Kyson is also invited to join them in the feast and the traveler begins explaining why he's come to Thornhaven. #Another dwarf, a visiting Master, Thorvan Strongbeard, stops by the Priory to check in with Remmic and is invited to join as well. ##It was revealed by the Traveler that he did not accompany the Caravan on their way down from North Shield but rather he came up through the Barony of Wyrmwood. ##Kyson tells the story of how he and his Halfling friend, Morrow, came across the Singing Stone in the forest. ##Jathom is curious about the stone and asks if Kyson could show him the way to it. ##Kyson tells the Pilgrim that he'll have to get permission from the Prior, Tethys, to be gone from the priory for the days that it will take to get there and back. #Kyson and the Pilgrim speak with Kyson's Master, Tethys, for permission to miss a week's lessons while he escorts him to the stone in the forest. ## The Mead Moon Celebration lasts a week, during which there are no classes at the Priory. ## With the goblin raid on his mind, Tethys is hesitant to grant permission but the Pilgrim reminds him that it is an isolated incident to the north of the barony that had already been resolved by Lord Bardos. Tethys agrees but tells Kyson to take Talik with him for protection. PART 2: The Journey Begins #The group sets out from the town of Thornhaven with Kyson, Jathom, Adro and Talik. It will take them about three days to get there and three days back. #The first night the party spent on their journey wasn't without its difficulties. ## Jathom slept in his Pilgrim's Hammock under a low-slung tarp. The boys slept under the stars on a roll of deer hide wrapped in their cloaks. ##In the middle of the night it began to rain. ###Not having any tents or tarps with them (because the Talik said that they wouldn't need one) Kyson had to conjure his rain shield spell and leave it hovering over them for the rest of the night. A big...glowing...blue disk. ####The glowing blue disk glows with the same illumination as a dull camp fire but it's still glowing. Anyone or anything in the forest looking down upon their position could see it. #While starting their journey into the Briarwood, Kyson and the Dwarf, are found by Moro. One of the halflings from her village, a hunter named Blackwing , hasn't returned from a hunt in the area and she needs help to find him. #The Pilgrim, having never met one of the Hanabril before, encourages Kyson and the others to help Moro and helping her find Blackwing. #The three friends enter the Spider Cave to look for the missing halfling. The Cave #The cave is wide enough for the three of them to walk down the tunnels nearly shoulder to shoulder but the web fluff that hangs from the edges and the ceiling reduce them to single file. #Talik, being half-dwarf, is able to see in the diminished light of the cave but Kyson and Adro aren't so lucky so Kyson withdraws his wand and produces a light spell. # There are clear signs of a struggle in the cave's entrance and several cat-sized spiders called "Grey Spiders " are found dead here and there. ##Adro spots a trail in the moss and identifies it as 'Glow Foot '. #They continue inside and find more clues that Blackwing was recently within the caves but there was no clear reason as to why he would venture inside. The cave was known to the halflings as a bad place full of danger. ##They find Blackwing's Bow . #Eventually the party comes across Blackwing who has been partially webbed to a wall and surrounded by a few Grey spiders. The trio of friends fight them off and try and tend to Moro's fallen hunter. #Adro, the Alchemist, uses a weird potion to disolve the webstuff to free the halfling but his potions can't reverse the spider's venom from where he was bitten. #The Pilgrim is able to revive for a while but not for long; just long enough to try and get some answers. #While Moro and the Pilgrim, Jathom, are healing Blackwing, Talik, Kyson and Adro are searching the chamber for any sign that might have explained why the halfling was taken inside the cave. #A pair of goblins emerges from one of the branching tunnels and attack Kyson, Talik and the Alchemist Adro. #More spiders begin approaching but from multiple directions. Talik is able to hold them off in one direction for a while with his axes while Adro drives some back with his potions in a cloud of sulferous smoke. #Kyson decides to try and cast a super-charged light spell to blind and confuse the spiders but he has to let it get dark first. ##Adro takes a swig of cat's eye elixir to see in the shadows and turns his back on Kyson so he won't be blinded by the blast. #Kyson lets the light on his wand almost go out and then re-casts all of the light stored inside it all at once. The effect drains the wand of its magic but releases so much light that the spiders are stunned and driven back for a while. The light spell is not permanent but it lingers in the air for a while and is rapidly decaying. ## When Kyson detonates such a large amount of mana in the light spell, a flash of something catches the corner of his eye. As the spiders retreat he turns to investigate it for a moment as the Pilgrim picks up Blackwing. The thing still shines as though it reacted with the light spell in some fashion. For a moment it held onto the residual glow of mana. ##Kyson discovers that it's a small carving of an owl among the old and decayed remains of what looked humanoid. Since it was only a foot or two from where Blackwing was found he picks it up thinking it might belong to the halfling. #The Pilgrim carries Blackwing and they all retreat towards the entrance when they hear a hissing-scream from one of the tunnels. Kyson now casts light from himself through the wand to give them a way to see the way out. The Village #The party escapes from the caves with only a bit of trouble from the grey spiders and a few more goblins before heading south for the Hanabril village of Thistletop . Once there Blackwing can be healed of the poison. #The party is met by group of the village's hunters as they approach. The village is on high alert due to a few spider and goblin raids on their perimeter. #The hunters, seeing Blackwing injured, quickly escort the group to see Shalendra Tallgrass , the village's leader and chief of their healers. The Priory #The Pilgrim and the boys return to the Priory to tell Master Tethys of what they found. Return to the Cave #The Pilgrim, Adro , Padryn Alba and some of town's guards from the town go to the cave to investigate the spiders and goblin threat. ##Lord Bardos and his eldest son Daegan Alba are in the north handling the reports of goblin raids. Padryn Alba, as a hopeful for the Green Wardens, accompanies the group as a scout. Messenger #A Hanabril Hawk-Rider named Stormwind arrives at the Priory to tell Kyson that the Guards and the Pilgrim have been captured by goblins at the Cave. A Rescue #With the Lord Bardos forces of the House of Alba taking care of a goblin raid in the north, the boys approach Lady Iona to tell her of the expedition to the goblin cave. #Daegan Alba , Lord Bardos' eldest son was taken with him when he went north to handle the goblin raids. Padryn , younger brother to Kyeran , went with the guards and the Pilgrim, Adro to act as a scout. The Tomb #More spiders advance on their position from where they just came but also from the entrance and block their path. Talik throws one of his axes at a larger variety of a grey spider that charges them from the rear and kills it but is now down to only one weapon and a dagger. #Kyson suggests that they go up the ledge beside them. The alchemist clears a path by throwing his solvent up before them that creates a yellowish cloud of smoke that instantly disolves the curtains of web-fluff. ##Moro climbs up and starts taking shots at the approaching spiders with Blackwing's bow. Kyson follows and reaches for Blackwing so that the Pilgrim can climb up. The Alchemist climbs up and throws out some tanglefoot pots to slow down any spiders that approach from the rear. #At least they're higher than the spiders. Talik is able to kick back or fend off the first few brave spiders that try and climb up to get them while Moro and the Alchemist keep them tied up or driven back. #Kyson hears someone say "Behind you" and turns to see the faint outline of a door set into the cave wall. Using his light to see better he approaches as the others are trying to figure out how to get out of the ever-increasing waves of spiders. #With a simple 'clean' spell, Kyson removes all of the grime and webbing still left on the door to reveal it completely. It's dwarven made. They all look to the Elf/Dwarf to open it since he (at least looks) like a Dwarf. He claims that he doesn't understand the writing on the door and is busy holding off the spiders. (Blackwing is laying on the ground between them. # Slowly Kyson is able to sound out the letters and figures out what it says. It is a Tomb . ##"Here lies the remains of two friends who would not be parted in life or in death." #Since all Dwarf doors have some cunning trick to opening them, Kyson figures out that two friends need to touch the door at the same time to open it. Talik is called from the edge, with lots of grumbling, to touch the door with Kyson and the door clicks open. #The inside of the tomb is free of any webbing and looks as clean and as new as the day it was sealed. Kyson calls for everyone to move inside the tomb while he goes further in to investigate a possible way out or at least a break from the fighting. PART 3 Category:Fiction/Kyson ACT 2: Conclave of the Azure Council PART 1: Conclave It is mid-spring in the year 879 and Master Tethys of Thornhaven Priory has been summoned to the city of Highward to attend a meeting of the Azure Council. Tethys was invited to bring his 'promising' students with him to visit the city and so that the council can have a look at them before they petition to take the Test of High Magic at Kel Arn the following Summer. PART 2 : Raiders ''Word reaches the City, and the council, that several villages along the Blackthorn River have been attacked by Goblin raiding parties. '' PART 3 ACT 3: War has come to Briarthorn. PART 1 PART 2 PART 3'' Category:Fiction/Kyson